Silicon carbide benefits and advantages for power electronics circuits and systems

• Published in: Proceedings of the IEEE Vol. 90; no. 6; pp. 969 - 986
• Main Authors: Elasser, A., Chow, T.P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 2002; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Circuits and systems; Electric power generation; Electronics; Gallium nitride; Gallium nitrides; Heat transfer; III-V semiconductor materials; Material properties; Photonic band gap; Power electronics; Silicon; Silicon carbide; Switching; Switching frequency; Thermal conductivity; Wide band gap semiconductors

Silicon offers multiple advantages to power circuit designers, but at the same time suffers from limitations that are inherent to silicon material properties, such as low bandgap energy, low thermal conductivity, and switching frequency limitations. Wide bandgap semiconductors, such as silicon carbi...